Chapter Title: I Turn 5th Avenue Into A Valley Of Death

Alternate Chapter Titles: Defending Everyone From A Horde Of Monsters (Again..), Part One; I Take On Kronos' Entire Army (yes literally), Part One; The Beast Of Camp Half Blood Returns (Aka I Go On A Killing Spree), Part One; Enter The Monster King, Part II

(A/N: A Lot of Alternate Chapter Titles here, yes.

Moving on.

You all waited for last chapter, and I hope I made it as good as every bit of the hype I made it out to be. You're probably asking yourself now, how exactly does this affect the story of the Last Olympian now? Well in this chapter, you are about to find out. Let's just say, it goes about as well as for the Titan Army in this and next chapter as the last chapters have probably led you to believe. That is to say, very painful.

Shoutouts to the usual people too. Also enjoy the pre-chapter opener below too.)

My name is Hades, King Of The Underworld. Eldest of the Big Three, Firstborn son of Kronos, and Greek God of the Dead. Why exactly are you hearing from me if this is a Colton Reynolds chapter? Well, I'll tell you.

Ever since the first of August this year, I have been plagued with nightmares about the return of a figure the Olympians - those same Olympians that I am not a part of - have not had to deal with for over 60 years. A figure that died near the end of World War II.

And now.. those dreams..

The scene, like a cartoon changes to a street level shot of the front parts of the crowd with the Monster King on his demonic horse getting closer and closer.

those nightmares..

The screen then changes to a closeup shot as the camera pans up and the Monster King laughs in an unhinged, psychotic, malevolent and rapid manner as he gets closer and closer to the screen and the demonic horse roars one more time before the screen turns black just as Colton's face - with the crown on top of it - reaches the screen.

are becoming real!

"..HA HA!"

- — - — - — - — -
(To the actual chapter now!)

The Monster King kept laughing maniacally as he closed in on the Monsters encircling the Empire State Building, coming straight up the middle of 5th Avenue from the south. Along both sides of the front to the east of 5th Avenue and to the west from Sixth Avenue onwards, the sounds of an extremely violent, heated, ferocious monster on monster clash erupted as fierce fighting raged over the front.

Hand to hand fighting was everywhere, with ranged combat and some aerial combat taking place as well. More reinforcements had joined the Monster King's army prior to the all-out assault in this alternate dimension void of mortals - and yes they were all in an alternate dimension, hence the red sky and clouds and odd-colored moon - and it showed, as contingents of various groups of monsters from different mythologies, whether containing groups of hellhounds, dracaenas, Hyperborean and Laistrygonian giants, Blemmyes, and legions of undead Greek, Spartan, Mycenaean, Union, Confederate, Revolutionary, and even G.I. soldiers from the Greek Pantheon and from American history along with large packs of werewolves; Jotunn, Trolls, and other monsters from Norse Mythology; squadrons of Dullahans riding with weapons from Irish folklore; gargoyles from Europe and Jiangshis and Yetis from Asia duking it out with enemy forces. Under heavy assault from land, sea - for sea creatures loyal to the Monster King were also popping out of the East and Hudson Rivers to bring the fight to Kronos' army - and air and facing both monsters, wardens, and heralds at the same time, it is little wonder that slowly but surely, Kronos' masses were being forced back at a very heavy cost in lives.

As the Monster King got closer and closer, the monsters around the Empire State Building panicked more and more. Some turned and fled to the rear, pushing and shoving their way through the hordes of monsters choking the approach routes; others prepared to fight; still others were uncertain whether to fight or flee.

One of the monsters, a hellhound, leapt for Kayla and Darren, deciding to maybe take a demigod child with it before it was probably killed.. and as Kayla screamed in terror and yelled out Colton's name and Darren tried to shield his daughter from it..

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..the hellhound was stopped in mid air, perishing instantly as blood erupted out its other end and sprayed all over the ground nearby, the flaming tips of the trident having gone directly through the monster. It had leapt at Kayla, only for it to become the first victim of the new Monster King right before it could tear into Kayla or her father as it is violently skewered on the prongs of the flaming trident wielded by the Monster King, its entrails now hanging outside of its body for all to see. All on the Olympians' side can only look in awe and also disgust (because of the visible entrails) at this unbelievable scene.

Then, the Monster King mutters a few words that to Kayla Knowles, mean the world to her.

"Don't. Try. To. Kill. My. Girlfriend. Slash. Queen, you pieces of ungrateful shit.." the Monster King growls, glaring at the hordes of monsters nearby that at this moment, are also trying but failing slowly but surely to halt the onslaught of the Monster King's forces. "Else.. I will not hesitate to make your death as slow and painful as possible, which let's face it, because you all attacked those I care about, you all will die here!"

Kayla can't help but want to get up to her boyfriend's monstrous face and kiss his cheek, because she knows that it's still him inside that monstrous figure he now is. The Monster King swings the trident to the right, and the corpse of the hellhound is sent flying into the packed ranks of monsters, killing quite a couple dozen, injuring more, and knocking down still more like a bowling ball into bowling pins. The Monster King lets out another low, menacing growl like that from El Chupacabra, before saying grimly, "Who's next?"

None of the monsters made a move, even as the sounds of battle roared all around on either side of the Empire State Building. The Monster King chuckled, "Well.. sucks to be you.." he said ominously, before his eyes started glowing with blobs of dark magical energy. "..because I'm not sparing any one of you!"

A pair of lasers shot out from his eyes, and killed dozens, if not hundreds of monsters in an instant down East Thirty Third Street.. before he turned to the left and without damaging the buildings, cleared all the monsters surrounding the Empire State Building up to the Thirty Fourth Street intersection.

"RUN!" shouted one of the monsters still alive.

The rest now panicked, turned and began to run back up the slope towards Central Park. The Monster King launched another blast of lasers from his eyes, targeting the fleeing mass of monsters. Hundreds were killed instantly if not maybe over a thousand in a single moment, before the lasers veered left and right at the same time to kill and maim still more.

Having done enough, his eyes go back to their normal fully blood red and then.. he turns to Kayla. When he speaks again, it's in a tone that sounds much closer to how Colton speaks. "Hey.. Kay.." he says, rather awkwardly. "I.. honestly.. don't really know how to take that.. this is what my true form is supposed to be. But honestly, it's so fucking awesome to use this form!"

Kayla smiles. "Give them hell for me, my King.." she says cutely, and he can't help but blush.

"Anything for you, my beloved Queen.." he says, and noticing the monsters are coming back down the slope, he rears his mount and with both a growl and roar from the Monster King and a roar from his horse, the demon horse charges onward with the Monster King still on towards the fray, leaving everyone there to process what had just happened. No one spoke at all.

The first one to break the silence is Darren. "Kayla, my dear.." her father says in disbelief. "Was that thing.. your boyfriend?"

She knows she can't hide it from the others any long, and so with a deep breath and all the courage she can muster up, she turns around and faces all of them with the exception of the Gods, Chiron and Michael, because they knew.

"Believe it or not.. yes.. that thing is still my boyfriend, Colton Reynolds.. he is the Monster King and I am the Monster Queen.." Kayla said assertively, and everyone was dumbfounded at the part about Kayla being the Monster Queen. Zeus in particular looked furious and was about to use the Master Bolt, which had just appeared in his hand, to strike Kayla.

Before he could do so however, out of nowhere, the God's body was suddenly wracked by pain and he fell to his knees, moaning and groaning much to Hera's horror.

"Father!" shouted Ares.

"I would advise against trying to harm the Queen which me and my brothers serve.." said a voice from above. "..along with the King as well. We aren't the type to allow attempts on our lord and lady's life.. Lord Zeus." Those two words were said with incredible amounts of anger and annoyance.

Everyone looked up. There, standing and hovering in the air above them, was the figure in fiery Greek armor. "Allow me to introduce myself, demigods and mortals.." the figure said to those below. "I am Cháris, mystical master of fire and one of the six Heralds created by Lord Typhon following his defeat at the hands of Lord Zeus to faithfully serve those who become the Monster King.. and we have done so for centuries. We now currently serve our new king, Colton the son of Ares and our queen Kayla, the daughter of Apollo."

"Typhon.. created you?" Percy sputtered, in absolute disbelief.

"That is correct, son of Poseidon.." Cháris said back, lowering himself down gently to the ground. "You would be wise in not interfering in the affairs of our king and queen.. even if it concerns Olympus and demigods. He could easily steamroll all of you without breaking a sweat."

"He's lying!" Clarisse shouted, unable to believe that what her brother had transformed into had the potential to do all that.

"Clarisse.." Ares said glumly. "..he isn't kidding around. I fought the Monster King once in the past in Vienna. The Monster King in that era.. 1660s.. nearly killed me. I couldn't even land a scratch on him."

Clarisse had a horrified look on her face.

"So why Colton? Why Kayla? Why make them Monster King and Queen?" Annabeth asked.

Cháris simply sized her up, and gave this as a response. "There will come a time, Daughter of Athena, when you are able to privy to the information you seek.. but now is not the time."

"But.. but.." Annabeth started, before Zeus grunted and spoke.

"Child.. we will explain all this once this is over.. I promise.." he said, before Hera added. "He's right. The battle is not over."

"Indeed.." Cháris stated. "Now if you will all excuse me.. I must get back to aiding my lordship. Asterios!"

Darren's ears and Apollo's ears both perked up and their eyes widened. The aforementioned Warden that rounded the corner left them no doubt in their mind that Kayla's bodyguard was indeed a servant of the Monster King. Cháris then left to assist his king, flying away.

"Asterios! You'd been working them this whole time?" Apollo said, and to be fair, the other gods were equally caught by surprise.

"Apollo.. Darren.. yes I have.. I love your daughter greatly.. and I am grateful for all you have done me.. but yes. I am not just a monster created by you.. I have existed longer than that. I'm the mysterious 12th Warden that the Gods thought was a myth for so long.." he said back to the two.

"Hold up. Warden?" Percy asked. "What does he mean..?"

"We will explain later, son.." Poseidon said with regret. "..I deeply apologize for having kept this information from you and Sally. I didn't feel like I needed to, considering there hasn't been a Monster King since the end of World War II."

"So Colton is the first in over 60 years?" Malcolm asked, and Poseidon nodded. "Correct, son of Athena.." the god replied. The sounds of battle continued to rage in the distance, even as everyone stood around and looked at Poseidon.

"So how long did you know that Colton was the Monster King..?" Percy asked, wanting to know more.

"Since last year.. Chiron told us that Colton told him the day you and Colton got back to camp. Typhon crowned him King while in Hephaestus' forge right before he joined you.." Poseidon replied. "..Zeus, as expected, questioned his loyalty and only the deal between Colton and Ares convinced my brother not to kill him."

"Apollo let it slip that Clarisse and his kids could be in danger in the battle back then.. so I made him a deal.." Ares explained. "..he defend his sister and his girlfriend and her siblings at all costs in exchange for ammo and celestial bronze as well as me convincing my father not to smite him."

Every demigod there had a epiphany then and there. "No wonder he fought so hard.." Belle muttered. "..we all never knew."

"Who else knew about this, aside from the Gods and Chiron? Anyone, Kayla?" Lee asked, really wanting to know more from his sister. That's when Michael spoke up.

"I did.." he said just loud enough so people could hear him. Aruna, Victoria, and Aurora's jaws drop open, Alice looks at him like he has two heads, Matthias is just blinking, Austin L. looks like he can barely believe what just came out of his half-brother's mouth, and Lee.. he's trying to decide whether or not he should strangle Michael for keeping this a secret.

"Since when..?" Lee asked, and Michael gulped. "Around the time.. they made the deal.." he says back. "I kept my mouth shut about it the whole time."

Lee was fuming.

Clarisse didn't know who she should be angry at. Her father for not telling her all this, the gods for not telling her anything about the Monster King, or her own brother for not telling her or the others anything.

"That's why he never told you all about me being the Monster Queen.." Kayla said. "..after having Zeus on his case once, he was determined to keep me safe."

"Father.." Apollo said angrily. Zeus gulped in fear. "..are you that paranoid that you would strike down a child of mine and her boyfriend after all they have done for Olympus?"

"Zeus said we can discuss this later.." Hera interjected. "Focus on the task at hand. The final defeat of Kronos' forces is at hand."

"Exactly.." Percy said, for once agreeing with Hera. He raised Riptide over his head. "Grab whatever weapons you can, demigods. It's time we made the final push to victory."

Apollo and Kayla smiled.

The parents of the demigods could only imagine that there would be plenty of discussions after this was over.

- — - — - — - — -

In the meantime, the new Monster King was busy exploring his new powers as he advanced on his demon horse up the slope towards Central Park. Boy, was Colton having a field day with them honestly. For starters, with just a simple thought, he could order the mutated heads on his waist to launch fireballs at enemies that incinerated multiple monsters at a time if aimed just right.

He had the laser eyes too. Then, he found out that if he concentrated really hard and thought about the trident, the three flaming points of his trident began to rapidly shoot out multiple fireballs at the monsters, killing and incinerating still more monsters to a crisp.

This is too easy, Colton thought to himself as he - as the Monster King - continued to run roughshod over the hordes of monsters that had poured into this version of Manhattan - wherever they all were. This is like shooting fish in a barrel.

Nearby, Atmos was having the time of his life. The dark herald was seriously enjoying himself as he shredded monsters left and right alongside the Wardens and troops of the Monster King's army with his dark elemental powers and the double ended, four sharp prongs on each side staff gifted to him and his brothers when they had been created by Typhon, the dark herald laughing manically all the while. No, he wasn't insane, he simply just missed times like these.

There hadn't been a great battle between monsters since the great clashes at Rzhev, Stalingrad, Kursk, Normandy, Iwo Jima, Berlin, and Okinawa over 60 years ago.

Sixty year ago.. had been when the last Monster King had been ruled. When the King had been killed by the forces of Zeus and Poseidon (aided by the Gods) on Okinawa in June 1945, Typhon had outright refused to immediately crown a successor immediately and ordered the heralds, wardens, and troops to go into hiding.

Now.. he had.. and their new king was proving to already to be a good choice.

- — - — - — -— -

Thalia was in disbelief over what had taken place in the past half hour. Words simply failed her. She had just witnessed the boy that did so much for her and Annabeth, the one who turned his back on the Gods, Annabeth, and her and become the host of Kronos, get forcibly separated from the Time Lord and get regressed back to a fifteen year old. Said fifteen year old version of who used to be her best friend, who had already apologized profusely and honestly to her for all that he had done, was fighting alongside her now, much to the displeasure of Zoe and most of the other hunters. A part of her didn't mind it at all.

She had witnessed the return of a legendary figure that the Gods had never told her, the Hunters, or anyone else about.. found out that said legendary figure was still the boyfriend of Kayla Knowles.. that said girl and her boyfriend had been crowned Monster King and Queen.. that Colton had kept it a secret since last summer.. and that Colton had literally fought like hell at the Battle Of The Labyrinth last summer just to keep Zeus from striking him down with a lightning bolt. Safe to say, she had.. so many questions about exactly what the hell was going on.

Plus, with Luke saying that Kronos was dead and being alive somehow, that threw the whole Great Prophecy into chaos. Everyone thought that it would either be Percy or Luke that would die - they weren't sure which of them it would be - and now it turned out that neither would, only Kronos in being scattered.

The prophecy should have moved on to the final line.. so why did it feel like that it wasn't there yet? She had no clue, and right now, leading the Hunters alongside Artemis and Zoe and fighting alongside Luke, the Gods, Percy, the others.. with these Wardens, Heralds.. and other monsters against Kronos' forces.. it was strange, to say the least.

As if the whole half hour prior to now hadn't been strange enough. It just kept building on and on and on. Thalia was sure that any more of this kept going her head was going to explode.

All the while, the Monster King's forces kept advancing, aided now by the Olympian forces mopping up stray monsters here and there. By now, Colton had discovered additional powers. Simply by concentrating a lot with his hands open and fingers extended, he could summon fireballs in his hands to then throw at the monsters. That was honestly cool, at least in the mind of the fifteen year old demigod that inhabited itself inside this body. Colton really thought that it was cool. Still though, he couldn't afford to take time to experiment a lot with his powers right now.

There were still plenty of monsters to kill right now, even as he was nearly at the top of the ridge that had Central Park at the top. Approaching it, however, the Monsters backed off plenty.. retreating in rapid fashion for some reason.

The combined forces of the Monster King's army and the Olympian Forces had killed thousands upon thousands of monsters in the past few days up till now.. but now.. it seemed like the teleportation spell that had occurred just prior to Colton turning into the Monster King had dragged in thousands more, possibly the rest of Kronos' entire army.

As he crested the rise along with the rest of his forces, the sight that greeted them was one that for a moment, staggered almost everyone. Regrouping for one final push, the remnants of the Titan Army surged forward on both sides of Central Park from the north and through the adjacent streets, thousands packed in dense ranks, intent on one final all-out effort to destroy the Gods. Right in the middle, squarely opposite the Monster King on 5th Avenue, were the two strongest Titans that could even put up a fight against the Monster King.

Pallas, the Titan of Warcraft and Koios, the greatest swordsman of the Titans.

Colton felt his Monster King side take control as his own personality was pushed further back inside mentally, as he watched his trident change from well.. a trident to a ridiculously long version of the sword Typhon had given him, with a impressive sixty inch long blade. The demon horse snarled at the two approaching Titans before the Monster King reared it back and both horse and rider as one charged down the two Titans. As he did so, all eyes on both sides - as for some reason all the buildings and trees in the area turned transparent - turned to the three opponents.

Colton had the sense now that this was it.

The final clash of the Great Prophecy - and his prophecy with Kayla - was here. The two Titans in front of him, Koios and Pallas, were the final bosses.

Now more than ever before, failure was not an option.

To be continued..